Trips to Japan change life of farmers

Rural laborers in the Mekong delta province of Dong Thap have streamed into Japan with the desire of becoming an owner of a small business after returning to Vietnam.

At a meeting with farmers in Dong Thap ( Photo: SGGP)

Story of exporting laborers to Japan has been making breakthrough changing the life of many Vietnamese laborers from Dong Thap province who have risen to richer people after going to Japan.

In the ending day of the year, members of Nguyen Thi Hien’s family in Hoa Long commune, Lai Vung district, whose eldest son is working in Japan were hurrying to decorate house as preparation for Tet Holiday ( the Lunar New Year).

Ms. Hien said: “My family lives on farming but my family has a small farm so we were just able to barely make ends meet. While racking my brains to find way out of poverty, the family was encouraged by the local administration to send the eldest son to Japan for work .”

Realizing the good prospect for improving the family’s economic condition, she registered to the program. After a short time learning Japanese and receiving training, her son went to Japan in the end of 2017 to work in wood production with income of VND30 million monthly.

She was so delighted because her son could have a stable job with high income and her family’s economic condition was improved much.

Farmer Nguyen Van Nguyen in Phong Hoa commune who has children working in Japan shared the government’ policy of labor export is really a lifebuoy for destitute households.

According to head of the Office of Labor, Invalid and Social Affair in Lai Vung district Nguyen Van Dung, the labor export policy has blown a new wind to countryside areas in Dong Thap Province. Appearance of as many as tens of newly-built houses in the rural district thanks to money sent from Japan proved the policy’s correctness.

Just in 2018 alone, 261 residents in Lai Vung district were sent to Japan for work.

Residents in Thap Muoi district are eager with working in Japan. Le Van Thuong in Doc Binh Kieu commune hilariously said that two of his children, one is a nurse and other is a drug shop assistant, had gone to Japan for working. At first, he was worried about his children but later he was pleased because in addition to good earning his children are learning good things in the alien country.

Presently, he receives around VND40 million a month from the two children. It is hard to earn such a big sum in the rural district.

Director of the provincial Employment Service Center Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet said in 2018, 2,007 laborers registered to work overseas with more than 1,400 people going to Japan while the government set criteria of 1,000 workers for the year.

Total income of 2,007 laborers is estimated to reach tens of billion of Vietnam dong excluding all expenses.

The highlight of the policy in Dong Thap Province is that the province prioritized to send more and more unemployed demobilized soldiers to work abroad.

At a meeting with 500 parents of laborers working overseas, Party Secretary of Provincial Party Committee Mr. Le Minh Hoan said young people should not only earn money to improve families’ economic condition but also focus to sharpen their skills and knowledge for future goal to become owner in returning Vietnam because knowledge they acquire in working abroad is very useful.

He promised to facilitate labor export program so that more and more residents can join in to have stable income and improve their families’ economic condition.

Ms. Tuyet said policies and good environment for startup companies are needed, besides that , the local government should encourage Japanese investors to pour money in the province.

In fact, Japanese enterprises investing in Vietnam prefer to choose Dong Thap laborers who had already worked in Japan before.